/y  j>b 


“THAT  THEY  ALL  MAY  BE  ONE.” 

Notwithstanding  the  differences  among  the  various 
denominations  of  Protestant  Christians,  it  is  pleasant 
to  discern  their  real  oneness  in  their  love  for  institu¬ 
tions  designed  to  explain,  enforce,  and  promulgate  the 
essential  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Such  an  institu¬ 
tion  is  the  American  Tract  Society,  with  its  various 
branches.  The  estimation  in  which  it  is  held  by  en¬ 
lightened  men  of  various  names  is  apparent  from  the 
subjoined  declarations : 

“There  is  no  benevolent  institution  that  can  lie 
nearer  my  heart  than  the  American  Tract  Society.” 
Rev.  J.  G.  Schmucker,  D.  D.,  Evangelical  Lutheran. 

“An  enterprise  which  I  consider  second  to  none  of 
the  benevolent  objects  of  the  day  in  which  we  live.” 
Rev.  John  Codman,  D.  D.,  Congregationalist. 

“  I  know  of  nothing  that  tends  to  elevate  and  bless 
man  for  time  and  for  eternity,  that  this  Society  does 
not  seek  to  do  for  the  degraded  and  the  wretched.” 
Rev.  Thomas  EL  Stockton,  Protestant  Methodist. 

“It  is  a  combination  of  all  benevolent  agencies.” 
Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  Reform.  Dutch  church. 

“Over  all  lands  this  Society  has  poured,  by  the 
press,  millions  of  streams  of  light  and  love.  I  know 
of  no  institution  doing  so  much  to  fill  the  vials  of  in¬ 
cense  in  the  hands  of  the  angel  standing  by  the  altar.” 
Rev.  Baron  Stow,  D.  D.,  Baptist. 

“It  is  a  noble  enterprise,  deserving  the  hearty  en¬ 
couragement  and  support  of  all  who  seek  to  promote 
the  cause  of  Christ’s  religion  among  the  destitute  of 
our  country.”  Hon.  Simeon  Greenleaf,  Protestant  Epis¬ 
copalian. 

“  I  doubt  whether  in  the  world,  at  this  time,  there 

[See  page  3,  cover. 


COLPORTAGE 

AS  CONDUCTED 

BY 

Ik  gunman  iTvact  fjxictij: 

ITS  * 

NECESSITY,  EFFICIENCY,  AND  ECONOMY. 

COLPORTAGE— WHAT  IS  IT? 

As  conducted  by  the  American  Tract  Socie¬ 
ty,  Colportage  is  a  system  of  evangelizing,  hav¬ 
ing  special  adaptation  to  the  destitute  masses, 
which  combines  the  double  power  of  the  press 
and  the  living  voice ,  in  earnest  effort  to  bring 
sinners  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  “Each  of  these 
instruments/7  says  Bev.  Dr.  Brainerd,  “has 
special  advantages :  the  press  speaks  without 
liability  to  impatience,  irritation,  inconsisten¬ 
cy,  or  prejudice,  and  gives  to  truth  almost 
ubiquity,  immutability,  and  immortality ;  the 
living  voice  is  effective  through  social  sympa¬ 
thy,  adaptation,  and  repetition.77 

The  Holy  Bible,  and  the  more  than  two  thou- 


2  COLPORTAGE. 

sand  distinct  issues  of  the  Society,  embodying 
the  essential  truths  of  the  Bible  as  held  and 
loved  by  God’s  people,  are  the  only  books  it 
circulates  ;  the  colporteurs  it  employs  are  such 
as  have  been  approved  by  the  churches  and 
ministers  to  whom  they  are  known,  as  men  of 
prudence,  intelligence,  devoted  piety,  and  un¬ 
tiring  perseverance. 

The  field  of  Colportage,  from  the  origin  of 
the  work,  has  been* the  whole  land;  its  aim 
and  special  adaptation,  to  reach  and  supply  the 
wants  of  those  not  reached  by  other,  agencies. 

ORIGIN. 

This  work  originated  in  1841,  as  a  work  of 
Christian  charity,  with  the  distinctly  expressed 
purpose  of  giving  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  J esus 
Christ  to  those  who  would  not  otherwise  be 
reached  and  supplied.  Prom  this  purpose  it 
has  never  swerved.  Colportage  from  the  be¬ 
ginning  has  been  specifically  an  aggressive,  out¬ 
going,  missionary  effort,  mainly  in  behalf  of 
those  too  poor  to  purchase  the  truth,  and  too 
widely  scattered  to  be  gathered  into  churches. 
Its  mission  is  to  the  highways  and  hedges.  It 
seeks  the  destitute,  follows  the  wandering,  finds 
the  neglected.  Its  work  and  its  joy  are  to 
bring  glad  tidings  of  peace  to  dwellers  in  the 


ITS  PRESENT  STATE. 


3 


wilderness,  to  comfort  tlie  forsaken  tenants  of 
lonely  cabins,  to  cheer  the  toiling  laborer  with 
the  light  of  life,  and  to  lift  the  thoughts  of  the 
weary  to  the  world  of  rest.  For  this,  Colpor- 
tage  was  originated. 

PRESENT  STATE. 

From  a  small  beginning  the  work  has  grown 
year  by  year,  making  friends  and  enlisting  be¬ 
nevolent  aid,  until,  for  the  last  three  years,  the 
Society  has  employed  annually  from  four  to  six 
hundred  faithful  and  earnest  colporteurs. 

Those  who  labored  during  the  whole  or  a  part 
of  the  last  year,  exclusive  of  174  students  in 
their  vacations,  were  distributed  as  follows : 

In  the  Northern  and  Middle  states,  .  .  157 

In  the  Southern  and  South-western  states,  293 
In  the  Western  and  North-western  states,  156 
In  Canada  and  among  the  Indian  tribes,  7 
Almost  every  state  and  territory  has  reaped 
some  of  its  fruits  within  the  year,  of  which 
abundant  illustrations  are  found  in  the  Socie¬ 
ty’s  Annual  Report  and  the  monthly  issues  of 
the  American  Messenger. 

SUPERVISION. 

For  the  careful  supervision  of  this  wide¬ 
spread  work,  eight  agencies  exist,  each  furnish¬ 
ed  with  a  depository  of  books,  and  a  Superin- 


4 


COLPORTAGE. 


tendent  trained  in  Colportage  and  well  ac¬ 
quainted  with  its  difficulties  and  capabilities, 
who  is  charged  with  the  immediate  oversight 
of  a  limited  number  of  colporteurs,  on  a  given 
field ;  while  all  are  held  alike  responsible  to 

the  Committee  at  New  York. 

The  Rochester  Superintendency  has  spe¬ 
cial,  personal,  and  constant  care  over  the  col¬ 
porteurs  in  Canada  West,  and  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  (except  in  a  few  of  the  South-east¬ 
ern  counties.) 

The  Philadelphia  Superintendency,  in  the 
states  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  and  in  a 
part  of  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  and  Virginia. 

The  Baltimore  Superintendency,  in  Mary¬ 
land,  District  of  Columbia,  Virginia,  and  North 
Carolina. 

The  Charleston  Superintendency,  in  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida. 

The  New  Orleans  Superintendency,  in  Ala¬ 
bama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and 
Texas. 

The  St.  Louis  Superintendency,  in  South¬ 
ern  and  Central  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Kan¬ 
sas,  and  Nebraska. 

The  Chicago  Superintendency,  in  Northern 
Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota. 


ITS  NECESSITY. 


5 


The  Cincinnati  Superintendency,  in  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee. 

All  other  portions  of  our  country,  (except 
the  four  northern  New  England  states,  which 
by  an  arrangement  of  long  standing  have  been 
cultivated  by  the  American  Tract  Society  at 
Boston,)  are  directly  supervised  by  the  Com¬ 
mittee  and  executive  officers  at  New  York. 

Through  this  carefully  arranged  system  of 
super  intendencies,  the  Committee  are  enabled  to 
oversee  the  entire  work  in  its  wide  expansion 
with  a  constant  and  intelligent  vigilance.  An 
experience  which  has  grown  with  the  enter¬ 
prise,  marking  every  liability  to  error  and  ca¬ 
pability  for  good,  taking  suggestions  from  every 
source,  whether  offered  in  kindness  or  not,  and 
running  through  seventeen  years  of  anxious 
solicitude,  toilsome  effort,  and  enlarged  bless¬ 
ing,  enables  the  Committee  to  speak  with  un¬ 
doubting  confidence  of  the  necessity ,  efficiency , 
and  economy  of  this  system  of  e  vangelization. 

THE  NECESSITY  FOR  COLPORTAGE. 

In  all  herein  said  urging  the  palpable,  press¬ 
ing,  imperative  necessity  of  Colportage  to  meet 
existing  wants,  there  is  neither  intention  nor 
desire  to  overlook  or  undervalue  other  agen¬ 
cies  employed  by  God’s  people  for  the  spread 


6 


COLPORTAGE. 


of  religion.  Rejoicing  in  these,  and  wishing 
them  all  more  abundant  success,  we  still  see, 
and  would  show,  weighty  reasons  for  the  more 
vigorous  prosecution  of  this  catholic  agency, 
by  which  devoted  Christian  men  are  made  the 
bearers  of  sacred  and  saving  truth,  printed  and 
spoken,  to  the  millions  of  the  destitute.  If 
Christians  were  far  more  devoted,  and  the  in¬ 
strumentalities  employed  far  more  efficient  than 
at  present,  still  would  there  remain  for  years 
uncounted  thousands  destitute  of  the  gospel. 

Nor,  in  urging  this  necessity,  do  we  for  a 
moment  forget  that  the  church  of  God,  in  her 
distinctly  organized  form  and  commissioned 
ministry,  is  the  grand  instrument  for  perfect¬ 
ing  the  saints,  and  carrying  forward  the  work 
of  Christ  to  his  final  conquest  over  sin;  but 
we  remember  also,  that  there  are  vast  reaches 
of  sparsely  peopled  territory,  and  great  num¬ 
bers  of  destitute  neighborhoods,  inaccessible 
for  the  present  to  church  organizations,  and 
without  printed  truth,  from  which  come  implor¬ 
ing  appeals  for  an  immediate  Christian  visit 
from  a  forerunning  instrumentality  that  shall 
give  them  at  least  some  crumbs  of  the  bread  of 

o 

life,  and  relieve  their  utter  destitution,  until 
a  more  permanent  agency  can  be  established. 


ITS  NECESSITY. 


1 


In  stating  the  admitted  fact  that  at  least  one- 
third  of  our  population  habitually  neglect  the 
preaching  of  a  true  gospel ,  and  are  therefore 
hasting  unreconciled  to  the  judgment-bar,  we 
but  half  present  to  the  Christian  heart  a  thought 
which  should  move  that  heart  to  its  depths. 
The  saddest  aspect  of  this  fact  is,  that  many 
ten  thousands  of  these  unevangelized  ones  have 
no  gospel  preaching  within  their  reach,  no 
one  to  warn  them  of  a  coming  judgment,  or 
invite  them  to  a  gracious  Saviour — no  book,  no 
Bible.  In  the  newer  portions  of  our  constant¬ 
ly  expanding  settlements — a  selvedge  on  the 
western  border  of  that  vast  robe  of  population 
spreading  over  this  mighty  continent,  a  hun¬ 
dred  miles  in  breadth,  extending  from  the  north¬ 
ern  verge  of  our  country  to  the  southern  seas, 
and  flowing  off  to  California  and  high  up  the 
Pacific  coast — are  these  out-dwellers  found; 
many  thousands  of  whom  are  beyond  the  reach 
as  yet,  and  for  the  next  generation,  of  regular 
Sabbath  services.  Although  the  church  in  her 
distinct  ecclesiastical  form  is  pressing  on,  tak¬ 
ing  possession  of  the  more  prominent  points  and 
gathering  to  her  sanctuaries  the  less  scattered 
settlements,  unblessed  multitudes  must  remain 
for  years  beyond  her  beneficent  embrace. 


8 


COLPORTAGE. 


In  addition,  there  are  many  portions  of  the 
more  densely  settled  states  where,  from  the  pov¬ 
erty  of  the  soil,  unhealthiness  of  locality,  char¬ 
acter  of  the  institutions  or  other  causes,  the 
population  is  scarce,  and  without  Bibles,  books, 
schools,  or  churches.  To  reach  and  save  the 
inhabitants  in  these  by-ways  and  mountain 
fastnesses,  cypress  swamps,  and  wide  prairies, 
there  is  urgent  necessity  of  such  an  agency  as 
Colportage. 

All  this  would  remain  true,  even  if  there 
were  no  “regions  beyond”  the  compass  of  our 
thirty- three  states.  But  when  we  note  the  start¬ 
ling  fact,  that  we  have  a  territorial  area  more 
extensive  than  that  covered  by  all  the  states  already 
formed ,  and  thus  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  expan¬ 
sion  of  our  population  for  ages  to  come,  the 
necessity,  present  and  prospective,  becomes  still 
more  imperative. 

That  wide,  numerous,  perishing  destitutions 
do  now  exist,  destitutions  of  a  preached  gospel, 
of  a  printed  gospel,  of  the  living  epistles  as 
read  in  the  holy  lives  of  pious  men ;  that  myr¬ 
iads  of  youth  are  growing  up  in  our  land  with¬ 
out  ever  hearing  a  gospel  sermon;  that  in 
many  places  where  a  few  Christians  have  locat¬ 
ed  there  is  “  a  famine  in  the  land,  not  a  famine 


ITS  NECESSITY. 


9 


of  bread,  nor  a  thirst  for  water,  but  of  hearing 
the  words  of  the  Lord  ;”  that  in  these  wastes, 
ignorance,  vice,  and  infidelity  prevail,  and  that 
great  multitudes  of  these  souls  will  be  lost 
eternally  unless  some  outgoing,  aggressive,  per¬ 
sonal,  persevering  effort  be  made  to  reach 
them,  is  too  sadly  true  to  admit  of  question. 

Nor  less  true,  nor  less  sad  is  the  fact  that 
many  might  hear  the  gospel  who  utterly  neglect 
it,  and  who  will  never  hear  it,  unless  it  is 
carried  to  them  and  urged  upon  them. 

A  few  abridged  extracts  from  hundreds 
which  might  be  made  from  the  letters  of  col¬ 
porteurs  laboring  in  different  sections  of  our 
land,  are  here  given  as  illustrating  and  con¬ 
firming  what  we  have  said. 

MIDDLE  STATES. 

“  In  one  of  these  counties  more  than  half  the 
territory  is  destitute  of  a  religious  teacher.” 

“  One  lady  told  me  she  had  not  been  to 
meeting  for  six  years,  another  for  two,  another 
for  eight.” 

“  In  a  district  twenty-four  miles  long  and 
fifteen  broad,  there  is  neither  stated  preaching 
nor  Sabbath-school.” 

“  In  a  village  of  1,200  souls,  not  above  one- 

fourth  attend  the  sanctuary.” 

2* 


10 


COLPORT AGE, 


WESTERN  STATES. 

“  Many  neighborhoods  are  destitute  of  relig¬ 
ious  privileges  altogether.” 

“  Whole  townships  in  this  county  are  without 
any  religious  meeting,  and  none  but  the  colpor¬ 
teur  to  call  attention  to  eternal  things,” 

SOUTHERN  STATES. 

“  Nearly  half  the  families  I  visited  were  des¬ 
titute  of  religious  reading.” 

“  One  village  has  neither  church  nor  school- 
house  within  three  miles,  and  there  is  but  one 
professor  of  religion  in  it.” 

“  I  have  been  in  many  places  where  the  gos¬ 
pel  trumpet  was  never  sounded,  nor  a  prayer 
ever  heard  by  many  of  the  young.” 

“  Many  counties  in  this  state  are  without  a 
church,  minister,  Sabbath-school,  or  common 
school.77 

“  Unless  the  colporteur  take  good  books  to 
these  families  and  talk  to  them  of  Jesus,  many 
will  grow  up  and  never  hear  his  name.77 

“  The  people  have  no  religious  books,  no 
Bibles,  no  preaching;  Colportage  alone  will 
reach  them.77 

“  Not  more  than  one- third  of  the  people  are 
supplied  with  regular  preaching,  and  -not  more 
than  one- third  of  these  attend.77 


ITS  EFFICIENCY. 


11 


“  Whole  counties  in  this  state  cannot,  from 
their  peculiar  location  and  sparse  population, 
support  churches;  hence  they  are  destitute  of 
regular  preaching  and  good  books.  As  their 
scattered  and  prejudiced  families  cannot  be 
reached  through  the  pulpit,  we  must  reach 
them  through  the  press  by  Colportage,  kindly 
bringing  God’s  truth  in  contact  with  their 
minds  and  hearts  at  their  firesides.*  The  usual 
objections  to  denominations,  education,  Sun¬ 
day-schools,  etc.,  are  forestalled  by  our  state¬ 
ment  that  we  are  sent  to  their  houses  by  Chris¬ 
tians  of  more  than  twenty  denominations,  with 
the  single  object  to  point  them  to  Jesus.” 

“  There  are  districts  of  a  whole  county,  and 
in  some  portions  two  or  three  counties  together, 
where  there  are  no  church  edifices,  and  but  few 
or  no  school-houses;  one  man  could  not  do  in 
two  years  what  should  be  done  to-day  in  this 
wide  and  destitute  field.” 

Can  any  one  doubt  the  urgent  need  of  some 
aggressive  and  benevolent  agency,  which  shall 
seek  out  the  myriads  of  the  destitute,  and  sup¬ 
ply  them  with  divine  truth? 

THE  EFFICIENCY  OF  COLPORTAGE. 

Admitting  that  there  are  great  and  crying 
destitutions  not  to  be  supplied  by  other  agon- 


12 


COLPORTAGE. 


cies  for  the  present  generation,  the  question  is 
pertinent  and  important,  What  can  Colportage  do 
towards  reaching  and  supplying  them  ;  what  is  its 
mode  of  working  ;  what  its  practical  results  ? 

A  brief  and  general  answer  would  be  found 
in  the  simple  recital  of  a  colporteur’s  labor  for 
a  given  year.  You  appoint  him  for  a  county 
in  Texas,  for  example.  The  county  is  twenty 
miles  square,  with  a  population  of  10,000  souls, 
grouped  in  1,800  families,  which  are  located 
sparsely  and  irregularly  over  those  400  square 
miles.  Into  the  centre  of  that  county  you  send 
him,  with  2,000  volumes  of  books,  tracts,  and 
plain  copies  of  the  Bible.  Here  he  finds,  it 
may  be,  two  feeble  churches,  with  50  families ' 
attached  to  each,  the  remaining  1,700  families 
being  without  any  gospel  privileges  whatever. 

Your  colporteur,  standing  at  the  centre  of 
his  field  and  looking  out  over  its  desolations, 
feels  the  glow  of  a  Christlike  compassion  for 
the  perishing,  and  with  an  intelligent  purpose  to 
tell  them  of  Christ,  he  furnishes  himself  with 
the  Inspired  Word,  and  with  Baxters,  Bunyans, 
Doddridges,  and  Alexanders,  who  will  go  with 
him  and  visit  every  family  in  that  county  with¬ 
in  the  year.  Not  secular  nor  social  visits  are 
these,  but  each  is  an  earnest,  prayerful  tearful 


ITS  EFFICIENCY. 


13 


effort  to  turn  sinners  to  G-od.  And  when  he 
has  told  the  story  of  the  cross  to  one  family, 
according  to  his  own  feeble  ability,  and  is 
about  to  depart,  he  bequeaths  to  that  family 
one  of  his  silent  but  mighty  preachers,  who 
shall  remain  to  speak  for  God  from  hour  to 
hour,  while  he  toils  on  through  his  field.  From 
house  to  house,  from  day  to  day,  he  goes  for¬ 
ward  in  this  work  until  he  has  reached  the  holy 
Sabbath  j  then  collecting  as  many  of  the  fam¬ 
ilies  as  can  be  induced  to  attend  in  a  point  cen¬ 
tral  to  his  week’s  work,  he  instructs  the  chil¬ 
dren,  exhorts  the  parents,  reads  an  awakening 
tract,  and  leads  them  in  praise  and  prayer  to 
that  God  who  will  hear  and  answer. 

Another  week’s  work  is  done,  and  another 
Sabbath  meeting  held,  and  still  another ;  and 
thus  he  presses  on  till  the  52  weeks  are  ful¬ 
filled,  the  52  Sabbaths  improved,  the  1,800 
families  visited,  the  2,000  volumes  of  saving 
truth  distributed,  and  the  10,000  inhabitants 
reached  with  the  gospel  offer. 

A  second  year’s  toil  over  the  same  county 
gathers  many  fruits  of  the  former  planting.  A 
family  has  ceased  Sabbath  desecration,  a  back¬ 
slider  has  been  reclaimed,  a  pious  mother  has 
been  strengthened  in  training  her  children  for 


14 


COLPORTAGE. 


God,  a  family  altar  lias  been  erected,  a  father 
has  reformed  from  intemperance,  a  brother  has 
renounced  profanity,  an  infidel  has  given  up 
his  scepticism,  and  here  and  there  a  soul  has 
been  converted  unto  God.  He  finds  also  fam¬ 
ilies  clustering  about  given  centres,  school- 
houses  going  up,  parents  anxious  for  Sabbath- 
schools,  an  increased  demand  for  religious  read¬ 
ing,  quickened  thought,  enlarged  intelligence, 
and  general  improvement  in  the  domestic,  so¬ 
cial,  and  religious  aspects  of  the  people. 

During  the  third  year  this  elevating  process 
goes  more  rapidly  forward,  for  other  agencies 
are  cooperating.  Churches  are  formed  at  va¬ 
rious  points,  the  ordinances  of  God’s  house  are 
enjoyed,  a  general  and  a  denominational  litera¬ 
ture  is  supplied,  common  schools  are  training 
the  children,  academies  are  founded ;  and 
your  colporteur,  the  first  worker  in  this  field, 
and  a  prominent  agent  in  this  transformation, 
perhaps  now  passes  on  to  new  and  destitute 
counties  farther  on  the  frontier. 

Abundant  illustrations  confirm  this  state¬ 
ment.  Note  the  following,  drawn  from  vari¬ 
ous  sections,  as  brief  specimens  : 

“In  several  destitute  counties  a  colporteur 
agency  of  three  years’  continuance  has  resulted 


ITS  EFFICIENCY. 


15 


in  a  general  waking  up  of  the  people.  Sab¬ 
bath  and  day  schools  were  multiplied,  churches 
erected,  and  revivals  enjoyed.” 

“We  visited  many  cabins  of  the  poor,  igno¬ 
rant,  and  destitute,  with  no  earthly  comforts, 
no  Bible,  no  page  about  Jesus,  no  education,  no 
going  to  church,  no  religious  visit  or  prayer 
ever  made  before.  We  have  met  them  kindly, 
and  spent  an  hour  talking  to  them  of  religion 
and  education,  teaching  fathers,  mothers,  and 
children  the  alphabet  and  how  to  spell,  have 
given  them  the  first  religious  books  they  ever 
owned,  and  engaged  kind  friends  to  visit  their 
cabins  and  continue  their  instruction,  causing 
them  to  feel  that  they  are  cared  for,  that  they 
have  minds  to  cultivate  and  souls  to  save. 
Thus  they  are  brought  into  Sabbath-schools 
and  common  schools,  and  to  hear  the  preached 
gospel;  and  many  are  led  to  embrace  Christ 
by  God;s  blessing  on  the  tract  or  book,  or  kind 
word  spoken,  or  earnest  prayer  offered,  or  ser¬ 
mon  delivered,  and  are  now  good  citizens  and 
happy  Christians.” 

“  Of  the  562  families  I  visited,  many  had  not 
attended  preaching  for  from  three  to  nine  years. 
I  was  kindly  received  at  their  firesides,  where 
i  could  adapt  both  books  and  talk  to  their 


16 


COLPOKTAGE.  x 


wants.  I  was  frequently  told  that  our  colpor¬ 
teur  visits  from  house  to  house  had  awakened 
increased  interest  in  going  to  church  and  in 
reading.  I  learned  of  over  70  Sabbath-schools 
resulting  more  or  less  from  Colportage.  In  one 
county,  where  there  were  only  three,  there  are 
now  36.  In  this  county,  every  family,  as  far 
as  known,  was  visited  and  supplied  with  gos¬ 
pel  truth,  and  over  800  souls  are  reported  to 
have  been  converted  during  the  year,  many  of 
whom  attribute  their  awakening  to  books  and 
tracts.’7 

“  During  the  last  eleven  months  I  have  visit¬ 
ed  1,803  families,  had  religious  conversation 
or  prayer  with  1,337;  more  than  half  of  them 
were  habitual  neglecters  of  gospel  preaching ; 
931  had  no  Bibles.77 

“  There  have  been  many  revivals  during  the 
last  six  months — all  where  there  has  been  the 
greatest  distribution  of  religious  books.77 

A  colporteur  gave  a  little  book  to  a  half- 
clad  youth  who  had  only  begun  to  read.  It 
was  the  means  of  his  conversion.  Two  years 
after,  he  became  a  colporteur,  and  went  from 
house  to  house  for  nearly  four  years,  talking, 
praying,  and.  circulating  books  and  tracts,  by 
which  many  souls  were  led  to  Christ.  He  was 


ITS  EFFICIENCY. 


17 


then  licensed  to  preach,  and  by  his  labors  in 
the  ministry,  a  little  over  two  years,  about  200 
souls  were  hopefully  led  to  Christ. 

A  colporteur  for  five  years  in  the  West,  who 
was  himself  converted  from  infidelity  through 
reading  Nelson’s  “Cause  and  Cure,”  says,  “I 
am  surprised  at  the  number  of  hopeful  conver¬ 
sions.  I  have  seen  the  hardened  and  well-read 
infidel  renounce  his  infidelity,  and  die  trusting 
in  Jesus.  I  have  seen  the  abandoned  of  both 
sexes  forsake  their  wicked  ways,  and  to  all 
appearance  hopefully  converted  to  God.  I 
have  heard  the  business  man  thank  God  for 
the  day  I  came  into  his  counting-room  and 
pressed  on  him  the  subject  of  religion,  and  sold 
him  Nelson  to  remove  his  scepticism.  I  have 
seen  the  gay  and  accomplished  lady,  fond  of 
the  party  and  the  dance,  forsake  all  and  unite 
herself  with  the  people  of  God.  And  the  poor, 
that  had  not  clothes  to  go  to  the  house  of  God, 
I  have  heard  singing  the  songs  of  redeeming 
love  amid  their  poverty  and  want.  I  have 
been  at  the  bed  of  the  dying  poor,  reading 
God’s  word  and  whispering  in  their  ear,  Look 
to  Jesus ;  and  have  received  letters  from  fields 
formerly  visited,  showing  that  my  labors  had 
been  blessed  of  God.  While  lying  on  a  sick- 


13 


COLPORTAGE. 


bed,  I  could  call  up  to  mind  more  than  sixty 
individuals  that  had,  I  hope,  been  converted  by 
means  of  personal  labors  and  our  precious 
books.  In  all  the  towns  but  one  I  have  visited 
there  have  been  some  conversions.  The  col¬ 
porteur  work  is  a  glorious  work.  I  wonder 
that  men  who  are  able  to  support  themselves 
do  not  enter  the  work.77 

Want  of  space  alone  prevents  additional 
citations,  telling  of  children  taught  to  read ;  of 
schools  formed ;  of  Bibles  and  good  books  in¬ 
troduced,  read,  and  loved  j  of  SaBbath-schools 
organized  ;  of  distilleries  closed,  drunkards  re¬ 
claimed,  and  dissevered  families  reunited ;  of 
corrupting  literature  banished  •  of  errors  re¬ 
nounced  and  infidels  convinced  ;  of  backsliders 
reclaimed,  mourners  comforted,  family  altars 
erected ;  of  many  souls  converted  unto  G-od,  and 
churches  built  for  his  worship,  largely  through 
the  agency  of  Colportage. 

Such  facts,  considerately  stated  and  well 
authenticated,  many  of  which  appear  in  the 
American  Messenger,  crowd  our  correspond¬ 
ence  until  the  Committee  cannot  doubt  that  the 
constant  blessing  of  God  is  rendering  Colpor¬ 
tage  efficient  to  advance  his  glory. 


ITS  EFFICIENCY. 


19 


The  results  of  the  last  year’s  labor  are  most 
cheering,  and  show  a  larger  blessing  than  has 
been  visible  in  any  preceding  one.  This  was 
to  be  expected  in  a  year  when  God’s  Spirit  has 
been  so  abundantly  poured  out  upon  every 
means  of  evangelization. 

It  will  not  seem  strange  that  such  results 
follow  this  unpretending  instrumentality,  when 
we  note  the  elements  of  efficiency  it  combines. 

1.  It  uses  only  the  most  impressive  truths . 
All  truth  is  mighty,  accompanied  by  the  divine 
Spirit ;  yet  that  Spirit  usually  employs,  in  re¬ 
generating  sinners  and  sanctifying  his  people, 
those  great  truths  that  centre  in  and  cluster 
about  the  cross  of  Christ.  These  take  strongest 
hold  of  the  human  heart,  most  deeply  enlist  and 
engross  human  thought,  and  most  largely  mould 
human  character,  and  because  they  are  con¬ 
cerned  about  the  soul’s  destiny,  and  reach  into 
and  compass  the  realities  of  the  eternal  world. 
Those  vital;  and  cardinal  doctrines  which  teach 
of  God’s  holiness,  man’s  sinfulness,  Christ’s 
sacrifice,  the  Spirit’s  work,  and  the  future 
awards,  are  those  alone  which  the  colporteur 
employs.  First,  his  own  heart  must  be  filled 
with  their  preciousness,  and  carried  captive  by 
their  power,  and  his  most  earnest  longing  be 


20 


COLPORTAGE. 


to  make  them  known  to  others ;  and  then,  that 
he  may  be  fully  furnished,  he  is  supplied  with 
hundreds  of  treatises,  all  teaching,  illustrating, 
enforcing,  and  reiterating  them  in  every  form 
and  with  every  argument  which  the  piety  and 
talent  of  the  past  and  present  have  devised. 
With  such  equipment  he  engages  in  his  work. 

2.  In  the  use  of  these  powerful  truths  he  is 
armed  with  a  singleness  of  purpose ,  which  is 
never  without  its  reward.  He  has  but  one  de¬ 
sire  of  heart,  Hod’s  glory ;  but  one  purpose  of 
mind,  to  save  men  ;  one  mode  of  action,  unceas¬ 
ing  toil ;  one  instrument  of  success,  saving 
truth.  He  loses  no  time  in  controversy,  no 
strength  upon  side  issues,  no  temper  on .  dis¬ 
puted  questions  or  doubtful  points,  but  presses 
on  in  the  one  work  with  concentrated  energy. 

3.  This  singleness  of  aim  brings  out  the  cath¬ 
olicity  of  his  spirit  and  mission  to  all,  and  wins 
him  access  to  many  hearts  and  families,  where 
a  denominational  bearing  would  close  the 
doors  against  him.  Such  a  living  demonstra¬ 
tion  of  the  unity  of  Christ’s  people  overcomes 
the  captious  objections  of  unbelievers,  and  pre¬ 
disposes  them  to  hear  the  messages  of  mercy 
from  his  lips,  and  receive  the  volumes  of  vital 
truth  he  offers. 


ITS  RESULTS. 


✓ 


21 


4.  The  true  aggressiveness  of  this  enterprise, 
which,  with  singleness  of  purpose  and  catholic¬ 
ity  of  spirit,  taking  those  impressive  truths, 
carries  them  out  to  the  destitute  and  perishing, 
and  with  earnest  voice  and  tearful  eye  and 
loving  heart  pleads  with  the  poor  and  halt  and 
maimed  and  blind  to  accept  of  Christ,  gives 
it  immense  efficiency  as  a  means  of  evangeliz¬ 
ing. 

RESULTS  OF  SEVENTEEN  YEARS. 

Perhaps  a  more  comprehensive  and  impres¬ 
sive  view  of  the  efficiency  of  this  system  may 
be  obtained  by  a  glance  at  some  of  the  grand 
results  gathered  from  its  brief  history  of  seven¬ 
teen  years’  effort. 

Above  eight  million  volumes  of  saving  truth 
have  been  distributed  by  Colportage,  and  large¬ 
ly  among  those  most  in  need  of  saving  truth. 
This  one  fact  shows  its  power  in  diffusing  a 
catholic  religious  literature  among  the  masses 
to  an  extent  scarcely  possible  by  any  other 
existing  agency.  Nearly  two  million  volumes 
have  been  given  to  those  unable  or  unwilling  to 
buy,  thus  furnishing  to  the  perishing  the  bread 
of  life,  without  money  and  without  price. 

When  we  state  that  our  colporteurs  have 
addressed  160,000  public  or  social  meetings, 


22 


COLPORTAGE. 


in  many  cases  where  there  was  no  minister  to 
tell  of  Jesus,  we  give  another  view  of  its  effi¬ 
ciency  in  reaching  the  destitute. 

Nor  less  convincing  is  the  evidence  of  its 
capability  for  good,  as  seen  in  the  fact  that  in 
3,231,000  families,  containing  about  15,000,000 
souls,  they  have  engaged  in  religious  conversa¬ 
tion  tending  to  lift  their  thoughts  to  God,  in 
many  thousands  of  these  families  offering  the 
first  prayer  ever  heard  in  their  habitations. 
The  Omniscient  mind  alone  can  grasp  the  re¬ 
sults  of  such  wide  spread  Christian  visitation 
among  those  else  unvisited  by  soul-loving  la¬ 
borers  for  Christ. 

A  still  more  impressive  illustration  of  the 
efficiency  of  this  system,  is  seen  in  the  fact  that 
the  Society’s  colporteurs  have  made  seven  mill¬ 
ion  religious  family  visits.  When  we  remember 
the  blessed  influences  which  have  followed  a 
single  Christian  visit  to  an  ungodly  house,  in 
turning  away  its  inmates  from  sin,  and  bring¬ 
ing  them  to* the  cross,  and  are  assured  that  no 
honest,  earnest,  scriptural  effort  for  Christ  is  in 
vain,  who  shall  grasp  the  magnitude  of  results 
which  God  may  yet  bring  out  of  these  seven 
million  Christian  visits — results  to  the  praise 
of  his  glorious  grace  ? 


ITS  RESULTS. 


23 


But  this  agency  has  also  revealed  fearful  des¬ 
titutions,  which  should  wake  us  to  more  ear¬ 
nest  exertions  in  its  future  prosecution.  Col¬ 
porteurs  have  found  925,007  families,  or  about 
4,600,000  souls,  who  attended  no  evangelical 
preaching,  going  down  to  death  in  the  midst  of 
a  gospel  land  unheeding  the  calls  of  mercy. 
This  fact  alone  were  enough,  it  would  seem,  to 
unite  the  whole  American  church  in  persever¬ 
ing  prayer,  “  O  Lord,  send  forth  more  laborers 
into  the  harvest.  ” 

When  we  know  that  an  energetic  colporteur 
may  reach  annually  10,000  of  these  careless 
ones  with  the  means  of  salvation,  is  it  strange 
that  in  deep  earnestness  we  plead  with  those 
redeemed  by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  and 
in  whose  hands  he  has  placed  the  means,  to  give 
their  hundreds  and  even  thousands  to  extend  a 
system  of  evangelization  of  such  large  capabili¬ 
ty  and  undoubted  efficiency  ? 

Colportage  has  found  399,235  families,  who 
were  destitute  of  God’s  word,  and  643,696  fami¬ 
lies,  or  about  three  and  a  third  millions  of  souls, 
who  possessed  not  a  page  of  evangelical  truth. 

Do  these  millions  of  our  brethren,  within 
our  immediate  reach,  call  for  our  efforts  any 
less  loudly  than  the  far  off  heathen? 


24. 


COLPORTAGE. 


When  such  wide  spread  and  admitted  desti¬ 
tutions  exist  of  spoken  truth  and  printed  truth, 
and  when  an  agency  is  at  hand  to  carry  this 
printed  truth  to  every  unsupplied  habitation, 
and  to  utter  in  the  ears  of  all  gospel  neglect- 
ers  earnest  words  of  warning,  instruction,  and 
entreaty,  is  it  asking  too  much  of  the  churches 
of  Christ  that  they  would  increase  their  pray¬ 
ers  and  benefactions  on  its  behalf,  until  it  has 
sought  out  every  neglected  habitation  in  our 
land,  and  told  the  story  of  the  cross  to  every 
wanderer  from  Christ? 

THE  ECONOMY  OF  COLPORTAGE. 

In  urging  this  mode  of  evangelization  as  a 
careful  and  wise  expenditure  of  the  Lord’s 
money,  we  by  no  means  assert  that  it  returns 
directly  into  the  treasury  a  like  number  of  dol¬ 
lars.  Far  otherwise.  It  was  originated  as  a 
work  of  Christian  charity,  and  has  ever  appeal¬ 
ed  to  the  benevolent  for  support.  Without 
charitable  aid  it  would  cease. 

Some  colporteurs  exhaust  the  whole  amount 
of  publications  put  into  their  hands  to  meet 
expenses  ;  others  return  a  portion  of  the  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  pay  for  more  books.  For  example : 
a  colporteur  in  Minnesota  is  furnished  with 


ITS  ECONOMY. 


25 


books  and  tracts  to  tlie  amount  of  $500,  with 
which  to  carry  forward  colportage  for  a  year. 
At  its  close  suppose  his  account  stands  thus  : 

Dr.,  To  books  and  tracts  received,  .  .  $500 

Cr.,  By  salary, . .  .  $200 

“  books  given  away,  .  .  .  100 

“  allowance  for  conveyance,  50 
“  travelling  expenses,  .  .  50  400 

Returned  to  the  treasury  out  of  the 

$500  furnished, . $100 

Of  course,  in  the  case  supposed,  the  difference 
between  the  cost  of  the  $500  worth  of  books 
furnished  and  the  $100  returned,  must  be  made 
up  by  benevolence.  As  a  pecuniary  transaction, 
it  will  not  pay.  As  a  soul-saving  enterprise,  it 
returns  a  thousand-fold.  If  we  cannot  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  poor  and  destitute  as  a  self- 
sustaining  work,  why  should  we  expect  to  make 
the  dissemination  of  a  religious  literature  among 
them  self-sustaining?  It  is  just  as  needful  to 
sustain  living  men,  with  hands  to  work  and 
hearts  to  throb  with  love  and  zeal,  to  go  forth 
and  hunt  up  the  destitute,  and  put  words  of 
truth  into  their  hands,  as  it  is  to  sustain  mis¬ 
sionaries  to  preach  salvation  with  the  living 
voice.  If  the  presentation  of  divine  truth  to 


26 


COLPORTAGE. 


the  human  heart  through  the  eye  be  a  matter  of 
moment,  if  Christians  in  this  land  are  not  pre¬ 
pared  to  throw  away  the  million- tongued  press 
as  a  means  of  saving  souls,  they  must  continue 
to  support  Colportage,  or  something  like  it,  as 
a  benevolent  scheme .  When  men  shall  have  the 
same  zeal  to  build  churches  and  sustain  mis¬ 
sions  and  save  souls,  that  impels  them  to  go 
into  bank  and  railroad  and  steam-boat  opera¬ 
tions,  then,  and  not  till  then  can  you  safely 
turn  over  the  heaven-blessed  influence  of  the 
Christian  press  to  the  ordinary  instincts  of 
trade. 

The  question,  then,  is  mot  whether  we  shall 
furnish  the  destitute  with  a  saving  literature, 
through  the  channels  of  trade  or  by  Colpor¬ 
tage,  but  whether  it  shall  be  done  by  Colpor¬ 
tage  or  not  be  done  at  all. 

To  reach  the  neglected  millions  will  cost 
money  ;  but  money  may  not  be  put  in  the  bal¬ 
ance  against  immortal  interests.  What  shall 
it  profit  a  man  to  gain  the  whole  world,  and 
lose  his  soul?  And  if  souls  in  the  waste  places 
are  perishing  by  thousands  for  want  of  the 
bread  of  life  which  might  be  supplied  by  Col¬ 
portage,  shall  we  stop  coldly  to  calculate  how 
many  dollars  it  will  cost?  Nay,  nay  ;  bid  the 


ITS  ECONOMY. 


27 


messengers  of  mercy  go  forth  at  whatever  cost 
of  money,  time,  toil,  and  self-denial,  if  only 
precious  souls  may  be  saved. 

Such,  we  are  sure,  is  the  feeling  of  every 
Christian  heart  contemplating  the  desolations 
of  our  land,  with  even  a  spark  of  that  pity 
which  glowed  in  the  breast  of  our  Lord  when 
upon  earth  he  compassionately  beheld  the  mul¬ 
titudes  who  wandered  as  sheep  without  a  shep¬ 
herd.  It  must  cost  money ;  and  much  of  the 
toil  may  be  lost,  many  of  the  books  sold  will 
lie  unread,  and  many  of  those  given  will  seem 
a  waste  of  precious  funds ;  yet  this  homage  of 
faithful  service  to  Jesus  will  not  be  unreward¬ 
ed.  We  would  not  take  counsel  of  him  who 
complained  that  a  box  of  ointment  was  wasted 
which  might  have  been  sold  for  three  hundred 
pence,  and  given  to  the  poor — not  that  he 
cared  for  the  poor.  His  error  will  become 
ours,  if  we  value  services  rendered  to  Christ 
merely  as  it  returns  dollars  into  the  treasury. 
If  this  be  a  necessary  work,  an  efficient  work, 
it  must  be  done  at  whatever  cost.  “  Never, : ” 
in  the  words  of  a  distinguished  professor  of 
ecclesiastical  history,  “  in  all  the  history  of  the 
church,  has  there  been  so  powerful  an  instru¬ 
mentality,  which  could  be  worked  so  cheaply. 


28 


CQLPORTAGE. 


Colportage  is  just  the  thing  for  us  in  our  emer¬ 
gency,  and  it  costs  but  little.77 

Still,  the  Committee  have  ever  striven  to 
reduce  the  actual  outlay  to  the  lowest  point 
consistent  with  efficiency.  The  result  attained, 
as  seen  in  the  Treasurer’s  report  for  1858— an 
expensive  and  trying  year  to  all  benevolent 
operations — was  a  sum  total  average  cost,  in¬ 
cluding  salary,  conveyance,  and  expenses  of  a 
regular  colporteur  laboring  in  the  country,  of 
$262  41 ;  and  of  one  laboring  in  the  city  among 
the  foreign  population,  of  $867  56.  Is  not 
either  of  these  a  sufficiently  meagre  sum  to 
compensate  for  the  toil  and  self-denial  of  a 
work  so  much  needed  and  so  efficient  ? 

Whether  it  be  possible  to  conduct  at  less 
cost,  and  yet  with  efficiency,  an  enterprise  in¬ 
volving  so  much  care  and  labor,  and  extending 
its  ramifications  to  almost  every  state  and  ter¬ 
ritory  of  our  country,  it  would  be  needless  to 
affirm  or  deny  ;  but  the  Committee  see  not  how 
any  additional  economy  can  be  effected,  nor 
have  they  evidence  that  the  church  desires  it. 

These  statements  they  have  thought  it  well 
to  make,  that  the  thousands  of  God’s  children 
who  are  cheerfully  contributing  to  sustain  and 
extend  this  heaven-blessed  agency,  may  see, 


SUMMARY  VIEW. 


29 


not  only  the  necessity  and  efficiency  of  the 
work,  hut  the  economy  with  which  it  is  con¬ 
ducted. 

The  limits  of  this  document  will  not  allow 
a  full  presentation  of  all  the  various  aspects 
of  this  subject.  The  Committee  cannot  more 
fittingly  close  this  brief  statement  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian  public,  than  in  the  glowing  words  of  one 
who,  for  fifteen  years,  gave  himself  with  singu¬ 
lar  fidelity  and  ability  to  the  development  of 
American  Colportage. 

Having  its  origin  in  prayerful  compassion 
for  the  destitute,  it  has  more  than  realized  the 
hopes  of  its  early  friends,  while  it  is  believed 
to  have  disappointed  the  fears  of  those  who 
entertained  doubts  ,  of  its  necessity  and  utility. 
It  has  proved  itself  everywhere  and  at  all 
times  the  cordial  friend  and  humble  auxiliary 
of  the  ministry.  It  has  cooperated  harmoni¬ 
ously  with  all  other  agencies  for  evangeliza¬ 
tion.  It  has  done  much  to  explore  and  reveal 
the  moral  wastes  of  our  vast  country,  and  to 
awaken  in  the  churches  a  spirit  of  active  home 
charity.  It  has  stimulated  a  thirst  for  relig¬ 
ious  knowledge,  and  aroused  attention  to  pop¬ 
ular  education.  It  has  contributed  to  bring 

t 


30 


COLPORTAGE. 


the  wants  of  the  various  emigrant  classes  be¬ 
fore  the  minds  of  American  Christians,  and  to 
elicit  active,  prayerful  sympathy  in  behalf  of 
these  strangers  in  a  strange  land.  It  has  help¬ 
ed  to  work  out  the  great  problem  of  success¬ 
ful  dealing  with  the  followers  of  Rome.  It 
has  given  employment  to  a  vast  amount  of  lay 
talent  and  piety,  otherwise  undeveloped,  and 
comparatively  inoperative.  It  has  furnished  a 
field  for  the  practical  training  of  large  num¬ 
bers  of  the  candidates  for  the  sacred  ministry, 
so  much  needed  and  increasingly  valued.  It 
has  done  its  part  to  expose  and  circumscribe 
the  issues  of  a  vicious  and  licentious  press,  and 
to  preoccupy  such  ground  as  is  not  yet  blight¬ 
ed  with  the  presence  of  a  corrupt  literature. 
It  has  encouraged  and  created  a  demand  for 
the  publications  of  a  high  moral  and  religious 
tendency  now  sent  forth  from  the  presses  of 
private  publishers  and  sister  publishing  insti¬ 
tutions.  It  has  deposited  truth  enough  to  save 
immortal  souls,  if  received  into  the  heart  and 
blessed  of  the  Spirit,  in  probably  not  far  from 
one  half  the  households  of  our  entire  popula¬ 
tion;  and  it  has  accompanied  the  diffusion  of 
its  millions  of  evangelical  volumes  with  words 
of  personal  religious  counsel  and  warning,  and 


SUMMARY  VIEW. 


31 


with  fireside  prayer.  Its  humble  pathway  may 
be  traced  from  the  gulf  to  the  lakes,  and  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  by  the  resonant  echoes  of  Bax¬ 
ter’s  Call,  or  the  startling  tones  of  Alleine’s 
Alarm,  or  the  deep  foot-prints  of  Bunyan’s 
Pilgrim.  Where  trusting  childhood  seeks  a 
guide;  where  maternal  anxiety  demands  aid 
in  its  immortal  task;  where  ignorance  needs 
its  night  dispelled;  where  error  claims  the 
light  of  “  truth  in  love ;”  where  affliction  asks 
a  solace;  where  convicted  souls  invite  direc¬ 
tion  to  the  cross;  where  thirsting  saints  long 
for  the  Fountain  of  life— on  the  mountain 
side,  along  the  prairies,  in  the  forest,  among 
the  mines,  on  the  emigrant  ships,  in  the  rail- 
car — whether  in  log-cabins  or  stately  man¬ 
sions,  in  cities,  villages,  or  hamlets,  over  our 
broad  continent,  there  may  be  found  the  “  leaves 
'  of  the  tree  of  life,”  prayerfully  scattered  by  the 
system  of  American  Colportage. 

And  the  blessing  of  God  has  been  with  it 
and  upon  it.  North,  south,  east,  and  west 
attest  it.  Beloved  pastors  and  missionaries 
confirm  the  official  statements  of  our  fellow- 
laborers,  who  rejoice  in  the  repeated  proofs  oi 
souls  converted,  spirits  quickened,  or  revivals 
promoted  by  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit 


82 


OLPORT AGE. 


on  the  evangelical  publications  or  the  personal 
labors  in  this  department  of  benevolence.  With 
full  and  grateful  hearts,  and  in  the  spirit  of  self¬ 
distrust  and  self-abasement,  the  Committee 
would  unite  with  their  fellow-laborers  and 
with  the  redeemed  of  every  name  in  the  ascrip¬ 
tion  of  undivided  praise  to  the  triune  God  for 
all  his  smiles  on  this  humble  but  hopeful  en¬ 
terprise.  His  is  the  work,  to  Him  be  all  the 
glory. 

By  order  of  the  Executive  Committee, 

THOMAS  DE  WITT,  Chairman. 

Tract-house,  New  York,  March  2, 1859. 


exists  an  organization,  the  Christian  ministry  excepted, 
which  is  more  effective  in  diffusing  a  knowledge  of 
the  truths  of  the  gospel  among  all  classes  of  people.” 
Rev.  A.  Alexander,  D.  D.,  Presbyterian. 

“I  wish  to  bear  a  simple,  honest,  independent  testi¬ 
mony  in  behalf  of  its  constitution  and  labors,  its  prin¬ 
ciples  and  action,  and  noble  purposes.  Its  list  of  pub¬ 
lications  excites  my  wonder  and  admiration,  and  I  re¬ 
joice  in  its  colporteur  system.”  Rev.  Dr.  Duff,  India. 

“Its  full  value  and  importance  could  only  be  appre¬ 
ciated,  like  that  of  every  other  precious  thing,  by  its 
loss.  Its  extinction  would  create  a  wailing  through¬ 
out  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  in  distant 
islands  of  the  sea.”  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth,  Presby¬ 
terian. 

“In  surveying  the  great  work,  and  the  interests  of 
true  religion  in  this  land,  especially  in  the  wonderful 
revival  of  religion  in  these  few  months  past,  I  fully 
believe  that  there  is  not  an  agency  in  our  whole  coun¬ 
try  of  equal  value  and  importance,  and  of  equally  ap¬ 
proved  and  established  efficiency  in  the  conversion  of 
souls,  and  the  glory  of  the  Saviour,  apart  from  the 
divinely  appointed  institutions  of  the  church  of  God, 
with  that  of  this  great  and  glorious  institution.”  Rev. 
S.  H.  Tyng,  D.  D.,  Protestant  Episcopalian. 

“  If  you  want  the  union  of  all  who  love  Christ,  all 
who  will  wear  crowns  of  gold,  and  have  golden  harps 
in  their  hands  in  heaven,  and  have  no  denominational 
distinction,  no,  not  even  a  lattice-work  between  them, 
then  you  will  love  the  Tract  Society.”  Rev.  E.  N. 
Kirk,  D.  D.,  Congregationalism 

Here  is  a  Christian  union,  not  constrained,  but  free — 
union  from  love  of  the  same  things — union  of  mind  and 
of  heart.  That  Christians  should  be  thus  united  must 
be  “well  pleasing  ”  to  Him  who  prayed  that  his  disci¬ 
ples  might  be  one. 


THE  AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 

Consists  of  members  of  different  evangelical  denomi¬ 
nations,  united  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and 
him  crucified,  by  its  publications,  associated  with  per¬ 
sonal  Christian  effort,  at  home  and  abroad.  The  Board 
of  Directors  embraces  members  of  fourteen  denomina¬ 
tions.  The  Publishing  Committee  consists  of  a  mem¬ 
ber  from  each  of  six  communions,  and  no  work  is  issued 
unless  unanimously  approved.  More  than  2,000  publi¬ 
cations,  of  which  about  400  are  volumes,  have  been  ste¬ 
reotyped  in  eleven  languages,  besides  more  than  3,000 
approved  for  publication  at  foreign  stations.  The  Amer¬ 
ican  Messenger  has  a  circulation  of  nearly  200,000, 
German  Messenger  27,000,  The  Child’s  Paper  300,000. 

The  Executive  Committee,  to  conduct  the  business 
of  the  Society,  consists  of  the  members  of  the  three 
following  Committees,  each  of  which  three  Commit¬ 
tees  monthly  report  their  proceedings  to  the  Execu¬ 
tive  Committee. 


PUBLISHING  COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  David  Magie,  D.  D. 
Rev.  Wm,  R.  Williams,  D.  D. 
Rev.  William  Adams,  D.  D. 
Rev.  Benj.  C.  Cutler,  D.  D. 
Rev.  Nehemiah  Adams,  D.  D. 
Rev.  Thomas  De  Witt,  D.  D. 


FINANCE  COMMITTEE. 

Richard  T.  Haines, 
Moses  Allen, 

Thomas  C.  Doremus, 
Richard  S.  Fellowes, 
George  N.  Titus,  Esq., 
Oliver  E.  Wood. 


DISTRIBUTING  COMMITTEE. 

William  Forrest,  Alfred  S.  Barnes, 

Alfred  M.  Tredwell,  Samuel  S.  Constant, 

Oliver  H.  Lee. 

President ,  Hon.  Thomas  S.  Williams,  LL.  D.  Secreta¬ 
ries,  Rev.  William  A.  Hallock,  Rev.  0.  Eastman,  and 
Rev.  J.  M.  Stevenson.  0.  R.  Kingsbury,  Assistant  Sec¬ 
retary  and  Treasurer.  Samuel  E.  Warner,  Assistant 
Secretary  for  Colportage. 

The  donation  of  $20  at  one  time  constitutes  a  Life- 
member  ;  the  addition  of  $30,  or  $50  at  one  time,  a  Life- 
director.  Funds  may  be  remitted  to  0.  R.  Kingsbury, 
Assistant  Treasurer,  150  Nassau-street,  New  York. 


